The Commonwealth of Dominica, like many Caribbean countries, is giving more attention to developing its digital economy. However, unlike some countries, it has established a dedicated unit within the Government to focus on this area. Robert Tonge, the Coordinator of the Digital Economy of Dominica, joins us in this episode to discuss, among other things:  What Dominica envisages as its digital economy, and what it considers its priorities; How Dominica sees its digital economy complementing other parts of its national identity and traditional economy; How soon critical milestones, or inflexion points, in the country’s digital economy roadmap will be realised.

 

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Over the past few months, we seem to be seeing and hearing the term ‘digital economy’ more often, as it may be gaining some traction among policymakers. However, across the Caribbean region, fewer countries than we would like have set out clear and cogent plans or strategies that are guiding their efforts to realise a digital economy. Nevertheless, and continuing from our initial conversation with Chelceé Brathwaite and Yacine Khelladi on the Caribbean digital economy, we believe there is merit in doing a deep dive into individual Caribbean countries and the work that is being done to more comprehensively establish a digital economy.

In this episode, our focus is the Commonwealth of Dominica.

Dominica is located in the Eastern Caribbean between Martinique and Guadeloupe. It covers approximately 751 square kilometres (or 290 square miles), with very rugged terrain, nine volcanoes, and a population of around 75,000 people. Historically, Dominica’s economy was agriculture-based, but more recently, it has been promoting itself as an ecotourism destination and for international financial services. Due to its geographic location, it is vulnerable to tropical storms and hurricanes. Most recently, the country was devastated by Tropical Storm Erika in 2015 and Hurricane Maria in 2017, and like all countries worldwide, it has had to deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its economy.

 

Robert Tonge

Introducing our guest

Robert Tonge is the Coordinator of the Digital Economy of the Commonwealth of Dominica.  He is a serial entrepreneur focused on establishing profitable companies that in turn benefit the community. His focus is on training and mentoring internal customers to provide external customers with consistently excellent customer service, which will result in loyal customers.

Robert is passionate about giving back to the community and helping those in need. He  is a recent Senator of the Government of Dominica, and held the seat of Minister of Tourism and Culture.

 

 

Insights into our conversation

Dominica has developed a digital economy strategy that will be publicly launched within the next few weeks. However, based on the conversation with Robert, the strategy, which has a five-year effective period initially, appears to be comprehensive and aggressive.

A common challenge to governments when implementing a strategy is securing the requisite funding and resources in order to do so in a timely manner. Frequently, strategies stall, they lose their relevance, and countries end up in a worse position than before they started. In Dominica’s case, key projects and initiatives are being supported by the World Bank-funded Caribbean Digital Transformation Project (CDTP), of which Dominica is a beneficial country. Hence, with funding woes largely addressed through the CDPT, Dominica could realise some significant strides in its effort to more fully establish its digital economy.

Below are key questions posed to Robert during our conversation.

  1. Why is Dominica giving such attention to developing its digital economy?
  2. What would you define ‘digital economy’?
  3. What does Dominica envisage as its digital economy?
  4. What are Dominica’s priorities to develop its digital economy?
  5. How does Dominica see the digital economy complementing other parts of its national identity and economy?
  6. What are specific plans or initiatives that either have been or will be implemented to develop Dominica’s digital economy?
  7. What is the impact Dominica hopes these plans and initiatives will have?
  8. Dominica is one of the beneficiary countries of the Caribbean Digital Transformation Project. What is the project about and what are key outcomes anticipated from the Project?
  9. What are some of the lessons or takeaways so far in implementing the Caribbean Digital Transformation Project?

 

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Also, if you or a member of your network is interested in joining us for an episode, do get in touch.

Let’s make it happen!

 

Below are links to some of the organisations and resources that either were mentioned during the episode or otherwise, might be useful:

 

 

Images credit:  R Tonge (LinkedIn);  Mehranvary (Wikimedia Commons);  Adeolu Eletu (Unsplash);  U.S. Department of Defense (rawpixel)

Music credit: The Last Word (Oui Ma Chérie), by Andy Narrell

Podcast editing support:  Mayra Bonilla Lopez